Value engineering is a “well-established commercial practice for cutting waste and inefficiency that can help Federal agencies reduce program and acquisition costs, improve the quality and timeliness of performance, and take greater advantage of innovation to meet 21st century expectations and demands,” the notice said.

The new guidance would also waive the requirement of inspectors general to audit all projects using value engineering and requires agencies to conduct value engineering training for managers to ensure its best use.

Agencies must also identify value engineering studies in their annual budget requests to OMB, according to the notice.